


Valentine's, Interrupted

by StBridget



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: M/M, Marriage Proposal, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 11:29:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13658076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StBridget/pseuds/StBridget
Summary: Jack has big plans for Valentine's Day, but a last-minute consult ruins them.





	Valentine's, Interrupted

**Author's Note:**

> MacGyver is property of CBS and its creators.
> 
> For JustDoIt24/7 who wanted a Valentine's fic.
> 
> I was stumped, so I asked for ideas over on Fanfiction Fanatics on FB. The suggestion was a planned proposal that gets interrupted by something. Jack falls asleep waiting. Mac finds the ring and puts it on. Jack notices the next morning. I combined it with my own idea of a disastrous date, and this was the result.

This was a disaster.  Jack Dalton had planned a nice, romantic Valentine’s dinner as a surprise for his partner and lover, Angus “Mac” MacGyver.  Their roommate, Wilt Bozer, had provided Jack with recipes for the most sumptuous—and easiest—dinner imaginable:  ham and cheese stuffed chicken breasts, scalloped potatoes with sundried tomatoes, asparagus with hollandaise, and flourless chocolate cake for dessert.  Jack had been dubious about the hollandaise, but Bozer had provided him with a two-minute hollandaise recipe he swore was foolproof.

Turns out, Bozer was wrong.  Jack stared in horror at the lumpy mess in the pot.  He’d even dared to taste it, hoping it tasted better than it looked.  It didn’t.  It had curdled, and it was like drinking sour milk.  Sighing, Jack dumped it down the garbage disposal to join the rest of his ruined dinner.

Bozer’s other “simple” recipes hadn’t gone any better; they’d all ended up down the garbage disposal.  The burner for the chicken was too high, and it ended up burnt on the outside and bloody on the inside.  The potatoes suffered a similar fate—the cheese was almost overcooked, but the potatoes were still raw.  Jack had forgotten the sugar in the cake, so the unsweetened chocolate was bitter without anything to temper it.  Mac liked dark chocolate, but that was a little extreme.  Even the asparagus, which Bozer had sworn was the simplest of them all—“Just put it in a dish, add a little bit of water, cover it with plastic wrap, and microwave it for five minutes.  You can’t possibly ruin it”—was, in fact, ruined.  He’d either added too much water or cooked it too long or both.  In any case, it was soggy and leached of color.

Jack was frantic.  Mac was due home any minute, and Jack didn’t have anything remotely edible to feed his lover.  That wasn’t going to go over well.  Jack was not given to romantic gestures, and he knew Mac was constantly disappointed.  Mac was always doing little things for Jack—paperclip sculptures, gadgets, steak dinners for no reason (always at a restaurant), breakfast in bed, a treat from his favorite bakery.  Jack tried to reciprocate, really he did, but he wasn’t mechanically talented like Mac, anytime he made reservations they got called up for a mission, Mac was always up before him, and the bakery was always out of Mac’s favorite treat when Jack stopped by.  This was Jack’s chance to go all out and show Mac what he meant to him.  To top it all off, Jack had something special planned (no, not that.  Well, that too, but in addition)—he was going to ask Mac to marry him.  Sure, he could still do that, but it just wouldn’t be the same without a romantic dinner first.

There was only one thing to do:  Jack would have to order take out.  Fortunately, there was a decent Italian restaurant that delivered, but it would take time, time Jack didn’t have.  Their boss, Matty Webber, had promised to keep Mac busy at work, but she could only keep the genius occupied for so long.  In desperation, Jack called her to see if she could keep Mac there just a little longer.

“Matty, I need you to stall Mac,” Jack said without preamble when the director answered.

“Not a problem,” Matty said.  “I was just going to call you.  Something came up, and I need Mac.”

Jack’s heart sank.  “You’re not sending him out of town, are you?”

“No, he can do it from here,” Matty assured him, “but it may take a while.”

“What happened?” Jack asked.

“One of the teams stumbled on a bomb, and you know Mac’s our EOD expert.  I need him to talk them through defusing it.”

“Okay,” Jack said, dejected.  “Just send him home as soon as possible.”

“I will,” Matty said.  Her voice gentled.  “I know you had plans, Jack.  I’m sorry to have to do this.”

“Yeah, well, it’s part of the job,” Jack said, but he couldn’t hide the disappointment in his voice.  He hung up, wondering what to do now.

Jack decided to go ahead and order dinner.  If he got pasta and garlic bread, he could keep them warm in the oven until Mac got home, which hopefully wouldn’t be too late.  With any luck, Jack could still salvage the evening.

Jack placed the order, set the table with a linen tablecloth and their best china, and added candles for that final romantic touch.  He put on his best suit, slipped the ring in his pocket, and settled in to wait.  And wait, and wait.  After a while, Jack fell asleep.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was well after midnight when Mac got home.  He opened the door quietly, sure Jack would be asleep.  The blond felt bad.  He was sure Jack was planning something, and this crisis had interrupted whatever plans Jack had.  Mac was sure it was too late for whatever Jack had in mind.

Mac’s keen eyes took in the set table, the pan of pasta on the counter (probably dry and congealed by now), and his lover asleep on the couch.  He was touched by the effort Jack had clearly put in and felt even worse for ruining it.

Mac made his way over to the couch and gently shook Jack’s shoulder.  “Wake up, babe.”

Jack just grumbled and curled into a tighter ball.  Mac went to shake him again, but noticed something sticking out of Jack’s pocket.  Sure it couldn’t be comfortable, Mac carefully slid it out.  He was stunned to find he was holding a small, velvet jeweler’s box.  His heart thudded in his chest.  That couldn’t be what he thought it was, could it?  Mac opened the box, and there, nestled in it, was a simple, brushed gold band with a single diamond.

Mac knew he should put it back and pretend to be surprised when Jack proposed like he was obviously planning to do, but the young agent couldn’t help trying it on.  Just for a minute, he told himself.  He’d take it off again and put it back.  He didn’t.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jack woke up stiff and sore the next morning, confused and wondering why he was on the couch and not in his nice, warm bed with his nice, warm lover.  In a flash, it all came back to him—the ruined dinner, the last-minute mission, falling asleep waiting for Mac.  Had the other man even come home last night?

Jack sat up and blinked the sleep from his eyes.  He patted his pocket to reassure himself the ring was still there, but it wasn’t.  Jack panicked.  It must have fallen out of his pocket.  The solider dropped to his knees and patted the couch cushions frantically.

Mac chose that moment to stroll out of the bedroom, dressed casually in sleep pants and a t-shirt, hair sleep-mussed.  “Hey, sleepyhead.  I tried to wake you up when I came home, but you weren’t having any of it.”  He seemed to notice Jack for the first time.  “What are you doing?” the younger man asked, running a hand through his disheveled hair.

Jack started to respond when he noticed something glinting on Mac’s finger.  The older man jumped to his feet and made his way over to his lover, grabbing Mac’s hand.  There on Mac’s ring finger was the ring Jack had gotten.  Jack wasn’t sure what to say.  “You found it,” he managed.

Mac blushed and looked at his hand, seeming to forget what he was wearing.  “Yeah, I’m sorry.  It fell out of your pocket, and I couldn’t resist.  I meant to put it back, but it just looked so good. . .”

It did.  Jack couldn’t help thinking how right it looked on Mac’s hand, like it was always meant to be there.  Jack was disappointed that his moment was ruined, but it looked like Mac didn’t mind.  “So, does this mean you’ll marry me?” Jack asked, heart in his throat.

Mac gently withdrew his hand from Jack’s.  “Yes, of course I’ll marry you, Jack.  Don’t think for a second I wouldn’t.”

Jack’s face broke into a grin, and he let out a triumphant whoop.  “Yes!”  He swept his lover—now fiancé—into a passionate kiss.

Maybe Valentine’s Day hadn’t turned out so badly after all.


End file.
